elegiac
pronunciation
How to pronounce elegiac in British English:
UK [ˌelɪˈdʒaɪək]
How to pronounce elegiac in American English:
US [ˌɛləˈdʒaɪək, ɪˈlidʒiˌæk]
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- Adjective:
- resembling or characteristic of or appropriate to an elegy
- expressing sorrow often for something past
Word Origin
- elegiac (adj.)
- 1580s, in reference to lines of verse of a particular construction, from Middle French élégiaque, from Latin elegiacus, from Greek elegeiakos, from eleigeia (see elegy). In ancient Greece the verse form was used especially with mournful music. Meaning "pertaining to an elegy or elegies" is from 1640s in English; loosened sense "expressing sorrow, lamenting" is from c. 1800. Related: Elegiacal (1540s, of meter); elegiacally.
Synonym
Example
- 1. The stories are not angry , accusatory , or even ideological . It 's worse : they are condescendingly elegiac .
- 2. He is unsurpassed in poetry , descriptive , lyric , or elegiac .
- 3. His paintings are never reflective or elegiac .
- 4. There is a wreath on the side of discovery of the 2nd woman , tear down elegiac couplet is brushed .
- 5. Her poetry has an elegiac quality .